Parametric studies on urban geometry, air flow and temperature

Citation
International journal on architectural science, v.6, no.3, 2005, pp. 114-132
Abstract
In low-latitude cities, urban heat islands contribute to the urban dweller's summer discomfort and significantly higher air conditioning loads. One of the main reasons for the heat island is poor ventilation. Detailed study the air flow can help to explore how urban canyon effect can be utilized beneficially by designing the canyons in such a way that more parts of the city can be ventilated, thus optimizing heat extraction. High-rise towers distributed randomly are very common in the Central Business District (CBD) area of Singapore. However, the effect of high-rise towers on the velocity and temperature was not well documented. In addition, air flow patterns as well as the temperature distributions in deep and long canyons have received less attention. Hence, this study is a preliminary investigation of the effect of geometric modifications on the air flow as well as temperature patterns within the urban canyons using numerical simulations. IT was found that strategically placing a few blocks of high-rise towers will actually help to enhance the velocity thereby reducing the temperature within the canyon when the wind flow in parallel or perpendicular to the canyon. (1) Introduction (a) Causes of urban heat island (b) The heat transfer phenomenon (c) Surface albedo (d) Urban canyon (2) Methodology (a) Numerical simulations (3) Results and discussions (a) Parallel wind flow (i) Velocity at Point 1 (ii) Temperature at Point 1 (iii) Velocity at Point 2 (iv) Temperature at Point 2 (v) Velocity at Point 3 (vi) Temperature at Point 3 (vii) Regression analysis (viii) Summary (b) Perpendicular wind flow (i) Velocity at Point 2 (ii) Temperature at Point 2 (iii) Regression analysis (iv) Summary (4) Conclusion (5) Nomenclature (6) Greek Letters (7) References
Description
Type
Article
Format
Date
2005
Language
en